California Surprise

On December 1, after receiving a one-day dock in pay amounting to only $35 for the November Zapatista road block on the way back from Palenque, I decided to surprise my family and fly to Los Angeles for my cousin Kailee's batmitzva on December 16. This meant I'd lose the $250 Perfect Attendance Bonus and three days pay, but I had lined up Aurelie as my substitute and knew the surprise would vale la pena (be worth it).

I took off from Tuxtla Gutierrez at 6:30 pm on Friday after my student's Christmas concert and arrived in Mexico City around 8:30 pm. It wasn't worth it to head to a hotel because I had to be back at the airport at 5am for my early morning flight to LAX via Monterrey, so I slept in the airport and got a taste of homeless life.

The airport was freezing and I had little in the way of warm clothing, so I used my beach sarong as a blanket and managed to get an hour or two of sleep before getting up to walk around and warm up. I had the company of about 20 other airport sleepers and was very jealous because the guy across from me had two, yes TWO, wool blankets and cardboard. I thought about how nice it would be to steal it and run down the hall, but I wasn't that despertate yet.

I found a warmer part of the airport and joined a different group of squatters, but wasn't able to fall asleep again. I listened to music and 5am finally rolled around, so I headed to Aviacsa to check in. I decided to carry on my backpack because my aunt and uncle Ron and Kay were picking me up in LA and I didn't want to have to wait for my luggage.

My flight to Monterrey took off on time and I made it to the final boarding gate for my last flight to LAX. Announcements were being made in Spanish that one could not board a US-bound plane with fluids and I knew I was carrying two bottles of tequila, spicy salsa and the usual toiletries. I talked to the girl in front of me and she said I could check all my luggage and it'd be fine. I informed the friskers that I had un monton de liquidos on me and they checked both my bags without a problem.

After another ontime flight, I reached LAX and was welcomed home by the passport stamper in customs - something that always feels good - and laughed at by the customs baggage checker because one of my bags was wrapped with an entire roll of tape. With a smile, he asked me what I was trying to bring into the US and I told him naturally tequila. Hello, I'm coming from Mexico!

Another customs official was walking over wearing the white gloves and ready to tear apart my bags when I was asked how long I was out of the country, a question that, for me, requires a lengthy answer. I explained I'm an international teacher who's currently living in Mexico and only home for my cousin's batmitzva. He thumbed through my passport and said, "I see that, Thailand, India, Vietnam; living the dream. Have a great trip and welcome home." With that, he waved off the ransacker and I was on my way.

I grabbed a Starbucks and waited for Kay and Ron to pick me up. We drove to Irvine and walked into my aunt's house where everybody was sitting in the living room. I walked up to my dad - it took a minute for it to register that I was standing in front of him when I should be in Mexico - and he said, "Bella, what are you doing here!?" Hugs all around, a few wet eyes and photos and we were heading to the hotel to get ready for the big event.

The batmitzva was a blast! Afterwards, we headed to my uncle's hotel room where we stayed up laughing to tears and drinking wine. We got up early for breakfast, so we could send off the Florida Nordquists, my aunt Nancy, uncle Bruce, cousin Amy and her son Alexander.

I stayed until Wednesday, spending some time in Temecula and Carlsbad, before my friend Crystal dropped me off at San Diego International for my flight to Minnesota.